From sweet teeth to vegan healthy diets, the food industry has undergone a major revolution in recent years. The key words swimming online and in the minds of consumers include ‘all-natural’, “no additives’ and other ‘free-from’ incentives and encouragement labels on food items. Sugary drinks and fast foods that were once a favorite (and perhaps profitable) food items of the Nigerian populace are quickly losing their relevance and fast becoming a nuisance.
The healthy food movement has become the new rave of the town, due in part to greater cultural awareness on nutrition. In time past, Nigerians ate or drank because “it” tasted good. Today, there’s been a shift as many Nigerian are now eating to stay healthy. They want to be on top form for the game of life. As much as they keep an eye on what they eat, they also engage in physical exercise; the goal is not to look healthy, but to be healthy. We know that there two major factors contributing to this wave of healthy eating.
- The Average Life Expectancy
The life expectancy of an average Nigerian in the early 1990s was about 45.64 years. That’s a really short time to live. Fast forward to today, the life expectancy is above 55.4 years. What this means is that you live long enough to answer for every eating decision you’ve made. Heart disease, obesity and diabetes are some of the consequences some people have had to face. To the person who eats healthy, long life is a blessing. To him who doesn’t, it may be full of avoidable pain. So, this is what the craze is about: spending less on health when you’ve become a senior citizen. There may be many things families don’t get to decide together but healthy eating isn’t one of them.
If I knew I was going to live this long,
I’d have taken better care of myself.
– Mickey Mantle
- Information
More than ever, Nigerians have access to so much knowledge. Thanks to the internet. Millennials are taking deliberate steps to have a better adulthood. There are free resources on the effects of consuming for example sugar and carbohydrates while DIY tutorials on how to make healthy food at home are becoming even more popular. With search engines like Google, companies are also learning about the interest of their customers and incorporating such findings into their products.
It is common place to see food with labels like ‘low-fat and gluten-free,’ ‘less fat’ or ‘no carbohydrate. Why is it so? It is as a resultant effect of the health craze sweeping across the nation.
Importance of Eating Healthy
- Healthy eating can drastically improve blood sugar
- There’s nothing as important as having a considerate weight. Controlling your diet can help you lose weight.
- It reduces the risk of chronic diseases like cancer, obesity and heart disease.
- You get to live long, visiting the hospital less in old age.
- It slows down aging.
- With the growing approval and reach of influencer marketing on social media, healthy eating has come to stay. ‘An apple a day,’ might just be 365 apples in a year, but conscious healthy eating is sure to keep you away from the hospital.
